Papa Smurf's Red Army

When i was young I always liked Smurfs, the little blue guys were always part of one of my favorite shows as a kid. Even today i still like to pick up Smurf toys if i happen to come across them, and my X-box gamer-tag is PNH Papa Smurf. But recently i have come to find out that Smurfs are in fact a satire of communist Russia, and as I thought about it, it all seemed very logical. Now first I'm gonna write what aspects of the show I see to be a representation of communism, and after I've exhausted what I could figure out on my own I'll do a little research.

First off, is the fairly obvious factor. The only Smurf with any say in what goes on is Papa Smurf, clearly a representation on Lenin. Papa Smurf is draped in red, while all the other smurfs wear the mostly similar white. His word is always the final word and it seems as if the Smurfs must follow this, regardless of how they feel about it. Brainy Smurf however is the only Smurf that ever does decide to speak up and voice his opinion, but this usually just leads to him getting dumped on. Clearly he is smarter than any Smurf, yet he has the exact same home, the exact same food, and the exact same life as all the other Smurfs. Jokey Smurf is pretty much just an ass that pisses off all the other Smurfs with his pranks and brings very little service to the community, yet like Brainy and the rest of the Smurfs, he receives all the same benefits as the rest of the Smurfs, despite them being harder and more talented workers. Hefty Smurf does most of all the hard work in the village, and is the strongest of the Smurfs. But, like everyone else his hard work is for naught, he can't gain anything for his labor other than the same benefits that every other Smurf is given. Now this is what I figured from just sitting here and thinking about it, now I will look into it with further detail, so I'll look some stuff up.

Some interesting things I realized from looking at the character list and other sites show it going even further than I thought. Brainy Smurf, is basically an allusion to Leon Trotsky, Trotsky should have taken over for Lenin, but with such hardcore opposition and ideas, Trotsky was exiled and later assassinated. At the end of most episodes Brainy would be kicked out of the village for his extreme ideas of opposition to Papa Smurf. Now some of the more minor characters also represent communist fews. Poet Smurf and Painter Smurf, two of the more artistic oriented Smurfs are often disregarded and are only featured every so often on the show. Much like in Soviet Russia where people who considered themselves artist were often put into camps. One site suggested that the reason for Smurfette being the lone female Smurf is because of Karl Marx believed in a communal wife, stating "The Communists have no need to introduce free love; it has existed almost from time immemorial." There is even more to be found, search Smurfs and communism and you will find some great stuff.

Regardless of what the hell Smurfs are, it is obvious that they are an allusion to communism in Russia over the years. But in the end, Smurfs are still pretty awesome and make for a classic show and some pretty sweet toys.